Berek Joselewicz

Berek Joselewicz (17 September 1764-5 May 1809) was a Colonel of Poland who fought for independence during the 1794 Kosciuszko Uprising and the Napoleonic Wars. He was the first modern Jewish military formation commander.

Biography
Berek Joselewicz was born on 17 September 1764 in Kretinga, Samogitia, in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (present-day Poland) to a Polish-Jewish family. Originally a financial agent, he was inspired to join Tadeusz Kosciuszko's rebellion in 1794 after visiting Paris during the French Revolution. On 17 September 1794 he issued a patriotic call to arms in Yiddish denouncing Prussia and the Russian Empire and 500 Jewish men were formed into a cavalry regiment that fought for independence in the Kosciuszko Uprising. The force defended Praga, but most of them were killed and Joselewicz was captured by Russians. After the defeat of the uprising, he left for Galicia and then to Italy, where he joined Henryk Dabrowski's Polish Legions. Joselewicz served as a general of France in the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars at the battles of Novi, Hohenlinden, Austerlitz, and Friedland. Given the Knight's Cross of the Virtuti Militari and the Legion d'Honneur, he became the commander of the Polish 5th Mounted Riflemen Regiment after the formation of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw in 1807. He was killed by the Austrian Empire at the battle of Kock in a clash with their hussars in 1809.